The Minister of Territorial Policy and Spokeswoman of the Acting Government, Isabel Rodríguez, has announced today that next Monday the Council of Ministers will declare an Area Severely Affected by Civil Protection Emergencies those territories that suffered the persistent and widespread rainfall at the beginning of September, which recorded a balance of eight deaths and considerable personal damage in practically all provinces, especially in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Comunitat Valenciana, Illes Balears, Community of Madrid and Murcia region.
An agreement, explained the acting minister, that “responds to the commitment of the Government to reduce the processing times of aid to local entities for natural disasters to one third of the time used in previous legislatures.” If in 2015 it was 461 days until the publication of the call, at present the processing period has been reduced to 148 days, despite the fact that in this period the management of the pandemic and the economic consequences of the war have had to be dealt with.
Co-governance
Isabel Rodríguez highlighted the collaboration between the different public administrations during the last legislature in the pandemic:
“We had to manage from adversity and, from the impulse of the Government of Spain, we participated all the administrations together in the recovery, contributing the best of this country, with the collaboration of mayors and mayors, councilors and councilors, presidents of deputies elected by them, and society. All public administrations were equal to the greatest threat since the civil war in humanitarian and economic terms. My appreciation to those who managed those moments, to society and to public administrations for the loyal cooperation we gave ourselves.”
Municipal response to the great challenges of the country
Isabel Rodríguez has assured that “municipal policy not only contributes to the well-being of our country, it also provides us with “answers to the great global challenges of the future”.
And in the balance sheet of the legislature that has ended, she has highlighted the pandemic, the consequences of the war, the DANAS to declare herself “proud to belong to a Government that has been equal in the response, as were the municipalities”.
Municipal claims
The minister has highlighted the collaboration with the FEMP, “there are the agreements of the National Commission of Local Administration (CNAL), and the advances in the modernization of the local administration, because the parents of the Constitution have already indicated to us that the Municipalities, like the Autonomous Communities, are State, and if they are to be heard, as we are hearing them, that is why. Therefore, this legislature must advance in the adaptation of the territorial model to the Spain of the 21st century, so that the municipalities exercise their competences and we can promote the modernization of the law, recognizing municipal competences and adapting local financing.”
In this sense, and after the intervention of the mayor of Madrid, he has pointed out that “if he and I, who represent the two great parties, want to, we can do it, let’s get down to work for it”.
In turn, the acting minister has conveyed her hope for the future of Spain, because “we agree on what is important”, and has demanded, in agreement with the municipal representatives, fair financing for the municipalities, such as digitalization, innovation and equality. “In these years we have worked together from the Government of Spain and I hope we can do it in the future.”
Challenges of the future
Isabel Rodríguez recalled that many of the national public policies had their germ in the area of municipalities, which “were a great sap for the construction of democracy, with the first advances in the conquests of freedoms and public policies.” And he has set the example of equality policies, with the departments of equality, of women or against gender violence, promoted by the local administration, the closest also to feminist organizations, where policies were born that later reached the State.”
“And the municipalities must continue to come up with great responses to the great challenges, such as climate change, which we are already experiencing its consequences, with great fires, DANAs, terrible droughts… responses from the local world to which I continue to call for their collaboration, with high resources from the Ministry of Territorial Policy to speed up procedures and cybersecurity or to combat climate change…”, he emphasized.
According to the acting minister, there are also great challenges for a more cohesive country. And it has focused on the housing situation: “We have taken steps, but I also ask you to collaborate with the basic rule to guarantee our neighbors access to housing, because life will not be full if many citizens cannot access housing and live in friendlier, closer cities, in the cities of the future. Hopefully this will be a legislature with fewer incidents to be able to develop government programs.”
Recognition of the FEMP
The acting minister has thanked the collaboration and work of the outgoing team of the FEMP, led by the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, and has wished the new president, who will be elected this afternoon, the mayor of Jerez de la Frontera, María José García Pelayo, a good team with which to continue collaborating from the Ministry of Territorial Policy, because, “when we decide among all, the work comes out better.”